


Careful What You Summon

by Xiaojian



Series: Men and Demons [1]
Category: Metal Gear
Genre: Alternate Universe - Demons, Awkwardness, Happy Ending, Jealousy, Light-Hearted, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-27
Updated: 2016-05-30
Packaged: 2018-05-29 09:19:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,312
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6368998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xiaojian/pseuds/Xiaojian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ocelot is having difficulty amassing manpower for his army, so he calls upon the powers of the underworld to summon a legendary war demon, whose powers are revered as much as they are feared. Instead of a fearsome warmonger, though, his spell nets him a shy, quiet thing who would rather cuddle with dogs than run an army.</p><p>He keeps saying he'll send the demon back, but that's hard to do when it's just so...endearingly awkward.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. I think you've got the wrong guy...

**Author's Note:**

> Written for a request from mgs-kink on dreamwidth.

Building an army was hard work.

Ocelot thought he had all the right ingredients: An isolated yet tactical location for his base. A hard-working set of dedicated employees to maintain said base. A cohort of top-ranking strategists; the best minds money could buy. All the weapons, ammo, and supplies an independent rebel army could ever need.

What he didn’t have were soldiers.

An army is nothing without people who can fight. He needed skilled men and women who were ready to lay down their lives for him and his cause. _Their_ cause.

But apparently, Ocelot wasn’t a man worth dying for. And, honestly, he had to admit that was true. He was a bit of an asshole (okay, a lot of an asshole), and he had a habit of making everyone who talked to him for more than five minutes hate his guts. But he got things done, and that was what mattered. So, there was no way he’d let a lack of charisma deter him from amassing an army.

If he couldn’t _be_ a proper leader, he’d summon one.

Quite literally.

It’s not like he made a secret of the fact that he knew a bit more about the occult than the average Joe. His office was littered with books on the stuff, and his strategists would attest to hearing strange chanting and demonic noises coming from his quarters every now and then.

Come to think of it, that was probably one of the reasons nobody wanted to die for him. They probably thought he’d do something unspeakable with their soul. Or something.

He had no interest in harming anyone other than the enemies their cause was fighting against, though. He simply happened to have been born with a just a few special abilities that only a small percentage of the population had, that was all. Such as the ability to sense and communicate with spirits. And, well, the ability to summon demons.

Which is what found him alone at midnight on the night of a full moon, locked inside an unused warehouse on his fresh new base. The giant space was lit only by flickering candles, whose weak light didn’t even come close to reaching the high ceiling. He read carefully from a heavy, aged tome held firm in his hands, his voice low and steady. One didn’t need to shout and be all dramatic to summon most demons. Nine times out of ten, politeness would get you further than commanding someone to appear before you.

And certainly, he didn’t want to piss off this demon. He’d done his research. Sources disagreed on its actual name, though just about everyone agreed it had its etymological roots in the Demonic word for ‘snake.’ Ocelot didn’t care about its name. He cared about what the demon was: The God of War. Fearsome and all-powerful. Its mere presence alone would cause men to fall at its feet and declare their undying loyalty. Whole countries would fight and die for the demon, if it only asked it of them. 

Sources also disagreed about its exact appearance, but a general form was known. While it had the body of a man, its head was adorned with long, twisted black horns that could impale a man with a flick of the demon’s head. Its single eye burned with the fire of the underworld, and even the human-looking limbs hid a supernatural strength that could crush entire armies without the demon breaking a sweat.

It was exactly the leader Ocelot needed.

The air in the warehouse was growing rapidly warmer as his spell wore on. Static pricked at his skin, and the candle flames rose higher. He forced himself to keep his voice quiet, only raising it the smallest bit to counteract the wind that had started blowing, seemingly from nowhere.

Something was forming in the middle of the circle formed by the candles. Shadows twisted and turned, growing from a mere manipulation of light into something liquid, something tangible. The darkness contorted itself, pulsing with the rhythm of Ocelot’s words. It grew larger, and larger still, until it was the size of a man. Ocelot couldn’t help the excitement creeping into his voice as the shadows began to melt away from the thing that had formed itself in front of him, dripping like mud to slowly reveal two human feet. Legs. A torso –

Ocelot tactfully kept his eyes raised after the realization that the demon was naked, and very, very male.

Hands. One of which was blood red. Not uncommon, among demons, though usually both limbs shared the color.

Arms. A neck. And, finally, the last of the darkness slid away from the creature, revealing its face.

Ocelot blinked. Took a closer look at the demon. Blinked again. Rubbed his eyes.

The God of War looked…average. There was nothing demonic about it. Upon closer inspection, the red hand was actually made of metal. Prosthetic, like any normal human would have. Its “horn,” if Ocelot could call it that, was smaller than Ocelot’s pinky finger. It looked like someone had hacked out a piece of rock and stuck it on the demon’s face.

It had only one eye, all right, but that was because the second one was covered up by an eyepatch. The rest of its body was completely unremarkable. It had muscles, but nothing more than any reasonably in-shape gym-goer would have. It was almost chubby, in some places.

Ocelot groaned. He’d fucked it up. There was no way this was the right demon.

The demon hadn’t said anything at all. It just looked at him blankly, its face betraying no emotion. Just as Ocelot was about to apologize for the misunderstanding and send it back to the underworld, it spoke.

“What do you need?”

Ocelot rubbed the back of his neck, sighed. 

“I’m sorry, looks like I summoned the wrong guy. I was looking to meet with the God of War.”

The demon nodded slowly. “Yes, hello.”

Ocelot froze. “Wait, seriously? That’s you?”

The demon just nodded again.

“You’re, uh…you’re a little different than I expected. No offense.”

The demon shrugged. “You wouldn’t happen to have a blanket or something laying around, would you? It’s cold in here.”

Ocelot sighed again. This was going to be a long night.


	2. Maybe this can work after all...

A week, Ocelot decided.

He would give it a week. If it didn’t work, well, the demon seemed far too polite to take offense if he sent it back to its home realm. But if it did work – well, Ocelot knew all too well that appearances could be deceiving. Sure, the demon came off as unthreatening _now_ , but who knew what lurked under its skin?

“What shall I call you, by the way?” Ocelot asked, handing the demon a spare uniform. 

Names were a touchy subject with demons. True names held power – know a demon’s full name, and you could control it completely. Hence, demons weren’t very open with their true names.

This one didn’t seem to realize that. Or maybe it had just forgotten.

“Well, my full name is…” the demon took a deep breath and proceeded to recite an overwhelming amount of syllables.

“…but the last human that summoned me called me ‘Venom.’”

Snake. Venom. He could see the connection. He made an executive decision not to make use of that true name – not only would it be rude to enslave a demon that had been perfectly polite to him so far, but there was no way Ocelot could remember the whole thing.

“All right, then, Venom. I require your services, if you would be so kind as to give them.”

“Sure. What do you need?”

“A leader.”

Venom gave him a curious look, buttoning up the uniform shirt Ocelot had handed him. 

“You see, I’ve been working to build an army for quite some time now. But I’m just not the type of man that soldiers will follow into battle. Considering your reputation, I was hoping you’d be up to the task.”

“Okay.”

Ocelot blinked.

“I’m sorry, could you repeat that?”

“Okay,” the demon said again. He had heard it correctly.

“That’s it? You’re agreeing just like that? No questions, no conditions? Just ‘okay?’”

Venom gave him a flat stare.

“Would you rather I turn you down?”

“No, no, not at all. Just…I expected the God of War to be a little more, well, confrontational.”

The demon grunted. “You don’t solve everything with violence.”

That definitely wasn’t something he expected to hear from it. Ocelot’s doubt grew, gnawed at his insides.

A week, he reminded himself.

-

As it turned out, Venom didn’t even need a week to prove itself.

Ocelot pointed it towards a small enemy outpost in the desert, with a simple request of shutting the place down, maybe stealing some supplies while the demon was at it. Nothing dramatic, flashy, or overly bloody. Unless Venom wanted it that way, of course.

Venom didn’t paint the place in the enemies’ blood, but it did return with several enemy soldiers in tow. Not restrained in any significant way, Ocelot noted with apprehension.

“What’s this?” He asked, fighting to keep the annoyance out of his voice.

“They work for us now,” Venom answered simply. 

“Is that so?” Ocelot cast a suspicious glance at the supposed new recruits. Venom echoed his question, and the soldiers answered enthusiastically.

“Yes, boss!”

“Of course, boss!”

“Sure thing, boss!”

Venom spread its hands and waited for Ocelot’s response.

“Well, that’s, uh, that’s great. You all come with me and I’ll put you to work.”

Ocelot had a fleeting worry that they wouldn’t listen to him, only Venom, but the soldiers trailed after him without hesitation.

Maybe this could work after all.

-

His hope turned out to be both right and wrong at the same time.

On one hand, Venom was excellent at recruiting and managing soldiers. Which was what Ocelot had summoned it for in the first place, so he really shouldn’t be so picky.

On the other hand, the demon seemed to have no real interest in its duties. The stories Ocelot had read told of a vicious warmonger who reveled in the power of leading men into battle, and longed for nothing more than bloodshed. Venom, meanwhile, went out of its way to avoid bloodshed whenever possible. It preferred a stealthy approach that resulted in as few casualties as it could manage.

It worked, yes, but it was so different from what Ocelot had expected.

But, he reminded himself again, he couldn’t complain when he had exactly what he’d asked for in the first place: An army that hung onto Venom’s every word, and by extension, Ocelot’s every idea. He could deal with Venom's...eccentricities.

-

“Boss.”

Venom looked up, an unvoiced _Yes, that’s my title_.

“What is that?”

“I found it wandering around the base this morning. Isn’t it cute?”

“It’s…a dog.”

“A puppy. That’s what the little ones are called.”

Ocelot buried his face in his hands. “I know what infant dogs are called. What I don’t know is why you’re _petting_ one instead of sending it off the base so it doesn’t get in the way.”

Venom cast a fond glance at the gray and white puppy curled up in its arms.

“It likes me.”

“Boss, you cannot keep a dog.”

“Why not?”

“It’ll get shot and killed the moment it wanders into some recruit’s target practice.”

Venom looked crestfallen. Ocelot hesitated. He did like dogs, really, despite his codename. And the one currently trying to lick Venom’s ear was certainly adorable. But there was no way to keep it safe. Unless…

Ocelot sighed. He had a feeling he was going to regret this.

“Fine, then, I’ll train it. But you have to feed and clean it.”

Venom’s face brightened, and the demon smiled the first real smile Ocelot had seen from it. It shifted the dog to one arm, leaned down, and rubbed a metal finger under its chin.

“Hear that, boy? You’ve got a home now.”

The puppy yipped excitedly, and Ocelot noticed something.

“Where’s its other eye?”

Venom shrugged.

“It matches its owner.”


	3. Sometimes it's hard to believe...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In which I can't be bothered to use proper soldier names, so I just make everyone cats. (Also, I feel like my English in this chapter is a little strange? Friend said he couldn't find anything incorrect in it, but if you notice anything, please tell me!)

It was far too easy to forget that Venom wasn’t human. It was so reserved, so curious, so kind. It was everything Ocelot had learned demons were not. The demon made it so simple to think of it as a mortal, as the equal of everyone around it. 

Until you got on its bad side.

He’d been getting complaints about Raging Tiger for a couple weeks now. Tiger was a fresh recruit, plucked from his guardpost at an enemy base and deposited in Ocelot’s figurative backyard like any other member of his ranks. He turned out to be more problem than benefit, though. Ocelot already had dozens of reports on file about Tiger’s inappropriate behavior. Picking fights too rough even for soldiers’ tastes, stealing and vandalizing personal items from the barracks, harassing the female recruits...the list went on and on. Ocelot kept telling himself he’d deal with the troublemaker, but it was low on his priority list, and it kept getting pushed to the backburner when he had so much more interesting business to deal with. 

The latest complaint knocked on the door of his office while he was in a meeting with Venom. The dog curled on top of Venom’s feet, now too large to fit in the demon’s lap, perked its ears up and stared at the source of the sound. Ocelot looked to Venom for its decision on whether or not to acknowledge the interruption.

Venom shrugged.

Ocelot sighed. “Come in.”

A short female soldier with a head of scruffy, sandy brown hair and a dark scowl on her face opened the door. Ocelot recognized her as one of the first batch of recruits Venom had snatched up for him. Couldn’t remember her name for the life of him, though.

“Sir,” she began, walking to the desk and crossing her arms “Listen. You need to deal with Tiger _now_ , before any number of us snap and toss him into the sea with concrete around his neck.”

Venom blinked its eye curiously. “What’s this about Tiger?”

The soldier looked aghast. “You haven’t heard?” Then she glared at Ocelot. “You haven’t told him?”

Ocelot rolled his eyes. “Your boss is a very busy man. He doesn’t have time to deal with every rowdy soldier.” As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he noticed something.

Since when did he refer to a monster as “he?”

Venom was peering around Ocelot’s desk, glancing between piles of papers. “How many reports of bad behavior from Tiger do you have?”

Ocelot sighed, pulling open a drawer and flipping through a stack of folders. “It’s easier to tell you how many of the reports aren’t about Tiger.” He found the folder he was looking for, slid it across the desk to Venom. He - _it, Ocelot, it_ \- flicked through the papers with its mechanical hand, frown deepening as infraction after infraction graced the report headers. It set the folder down after a minute, glancing up at the soldier.

“What’s he done now, to prompt you to come straight to me?”

The soldier’s fingers tightened around her arms, clenching the fabric of her uniform. “He tried to grope Leopard outside the mess hall, very much against her will, after she’d turned down his advances a thousand times.”

Venom’s eye narrowed.

“It took three of us to stop her from strangling him then and there. I was this close to letting her, though.”

Venom placed its hands on the desk, taking a deep breath. He glanced at Ocelot.

“I need to speak to Jaguar alone.” _Jaguar! That was it!_ “If you wouldn’t mind...?” Venom nodded meaningfully at the door.

Ocelot blinked.

“Boss.”

“Yes?”

“This is my office.”

Venom mirrored the gesture, with one less eye.

“Oh. Right.”

Venom stood and walked around the desk, the dog trailing eagerly in its wake. Jaguar followed it out the door, already off on a rant about Tiger’s sins. Ocelot sighed and leaned back in his chair. 

-

It was high noon, and the soldiers were restless. Ocelot hadn’t seen them this excited since...well, ever. There were energetic murmurs rippling through the base, and everyone seemed to be heading towards the central courtyard. Ocelot grabbed the arm of a soldier almost running past him.

“What in the hell is everyone going on about?”

The soldier, a lanky man with ears too big for his head, grinned.

“The boss told us he’s gonna deal with Tiger! He invited everyone to come watch.”

Ocelot released the soldier and followed the excited flow to the center of the base. The sun was merciless, and everyone twitched and sweated under its ruthless light, itching to get back under the shade. Except Venom, who didn’t look to be effected at all, standing still and stoic in the center of a large circle of onlookers. 

Tiger stood a few meters away from his boss, eyes flickering uncomfortably among Venom, his fellow soldiers, and the ground. Tiger was a tall man, too pale and redheaded to be anywhere near this environment, blue eyes squinting in the harsh sunlight. It was shockingly quiet, once Ocelot pushed his way into the circle of soldiers. Everyone was tense, the only sounds heavy breathing and the shifting of clothing as people fidgeted.

Venom looked around. Apparently satisfied with the size of its audience, it nodded and turned its attention to Tiger.

“Tiger.”

Tiger snapped to attention. “Sir.”

“I would like to apologize,” Venom said.

The soldiers beside Ocelot began to whisper angrily.

“Not necessarily to you,” Venom amended. “But to everyone here. I haven’t been as vigilant or as active as a leader should when it comes to keeping the peace among my ranks. If I had been more attentive, I could have dealt with this issue sooner.”

Ocelot wanted to protest that it wasn’t his - _its_ \- fault. It was Ocelot’s job to communicate this kind of information to the demon. He simply hadn’t done so.

The demon took a step towards Tiger. Tiger kept his back rigid.

“Did you know your mother, growing up?”

Tiger frowned. “What?”

“Answer the question. Or perhaps a sister? Any family?”

Tiger’s frown deepened. “Well, yeah. I had both my parents. I’m not some bastard child, if that’s what you’re implying.”

Ocelot’s finger twitched. This man completely lacked the respect and reverence the other recruits all showed Venom.

“Tell me. Would you treat your mother the same way you’ve treated your comrades?”

Tiger flinched.

“That’s completely irrelevant! You can’t compare the two.”

Venom raised the eyebrow over its working eye. “Oh really? I can, and I will.” It made a sweeping gesture with its red arm, encompassing the circle of bodies around them. “Everyone here is your family. Anyone who is willing to fight and die alongside you is your family.”

Venom took another step forward.

“You don’t treat family the way you’ve been acting.”

Tiger actually pouted. His eyes scanned the crowd, his gaze landing on a soldier Ocelot recognized as Leopard, Jaguar standing close beside her. Tiger glared at her.

“Bitch. You sold me out.”

“You’re lucky I didn’t murder you instead,” Leopard snarled.

Venom stepped closer, holding up a hand to stall the argument. Tiger glanced back at his boss reluctantly.

“So, tell me. Are you going to admit what you’ve done wrong, apologize, and stop acting like a spoiled, entitled child?”

Tiger’s lip curled. “Boss, that’s unfair!”

Another step closer. “Unfair, huh?”

Another step. It was only a hair's width away from Tiger now. Tiger was visibly fighting the urge to step back.

“Would you like to see unfair?”

“Huh?”

In a flash, Venom had its mechanical hand wrapped around Tiger’s neck. Not squeezing. Holding him in place.

“Look at me,” the demon demanded, its voice casual. Not angry. Tiger met Venom’s eye with a glare.

A glare that slowly melted into a look of horror.

“W-wh-wha - ”

Tiger stuttered, eyes widening in fear. Ocelot frowned, leaning closer. He couldn’t see Venom actually _doing_ anything to the man. What was he freaking out about?

Tiger began to struggle, hands spasming and legs shaking. It looked like he wanted to run, wanted to pry at the cold metal around his neck, but he couldn’t move. 

Venom just kept staring at him.

Tiger screamed.

The soldiers jumped. It was a shrill sound, one of sheer, instinctive terror. He kept screaming, began to sob in between, while Venom looked on calmly, its face placid.

After a minute, Venom released his neck. Tiger collapsed to the ground, clutching his head.

“S-s-st-stop - ”

“Do you see?” Venom asked.

“St-st-stop! I-I-I-I d-don’t - ”

“Do you see all the things I _could_ do, that would be unfair?”

“P-please...”

“I’ve been forced to do some of them before. Had a few done to me. It’s never been pleasant.”

Tiger stopped protesting, focused on catching his breath between sobs.

“I think you’ll agree that merely asking you to man up and act like an adult instead of a bratty child is tame in comparison.”

Tiger nodded, his hands still shaking where they gripped the sides of his head. Venom stepped back, its face somber. It turned and addressed the crowd.

“I think he’s learned his lesson. If he continues, come straight to me.”

With that, the demon strolled calmly into the nearest building, leaving Tiger a shivering - if slowly-recovering - mess on the ground.

Ocelot whistled.

“Damn.”


	4. Then again, sometimes it's easy to remember...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter: Venom speaks! A lot! And I continue to stall on the romance! I'm sorry!

He found Venom lying on the floor of an as-yet-unoccupied office, the demon’s chest commandeered as the resting place of a large, fluffy dog. The animal opened its eyes sleepily as Ocelot shut the door behind him.

“Sorry to wake you, buddy,” Ocelot muttered.

Venom turned its head just enough to see him, giving him a brief nod before resuming its gentle petting of the dog’s head. Ocelot hunkered down beside it.

“So, you are a demon after all. I was starting to worry I’d been swindled by some conman with a paper horn.”

Venom grunted. “Yeah.”

“You don’t seem too enthusiastic about it.”

Venom shrugged, moving its metal hand to scratch behind the dog’s ears.

“Violence is a necessary evil, but it’s still an evil.”

Ocelot frowned, tucking his legs under himself and sitting flat on the floor. On a whim, he reached out to scratch the dog’s back. It sighed happily.

“Be honest with me. I’m trying to understand. here. Did I do my research wrong? Because literally everything I’ve heard and read about you has been wrong thus far.”

Venom was quiet.

“Were you at least formerly a bloodthirsty killer? And now you just want to retire, or something?”

“It’s exhausting being a monster,” Venom muttered. “Especially a monster that’s not you.”

“Excuse me?”

Venom sighed. The movement of its chest disturbed the dog, who opened an eye to shoot the demon an irritated look.

“I should apologize. I haven’t been completely honest.”

It looked to Ocelot like it was expecting him to say something. Ocelot just waved for it to continue, his face neutral.

“The demon you wanted is real. Or rather, was real. It was easily the most powerful creature in my tier of the underworld. Everyone was terrified of it, even those close to it. But its presence, its power - they maintained order.”

Venom’s eye wandered to the ceiling, stared at the still blades of a fan. Turned off to save energy in an empty office.

“The last person who summoned me. She liked to recite a quote. Something like, ‘It is better for a leader to be feared than loved.’”

“Machiavelli,” Ocelot recited automatically.

“So you can imagine the power of a monster whose very existence commands both.”

Venom turned to look at him. “And you can imagine the chaos that resulted when it just...disappeared.”

Ocelot’s brow furrowed. “When it was summoned, you mean?”

“No. A demon’s power remains in the underworld, even as its physical body is doing the work of men in this world. I mean it just vanished without a trace. No one knew where it went, why it left. But it was gone, and the structure of our society completely broke down without it at the helm.”

Ocelot leaned in, fascinated. There wasn’t much information recorded about Demonic culture. Most summoners and mediums considered it unnecessary. All they cared about was bringing the demons _out_ of their societies. Besides, this was the most he’d heard Venom talk since it appeared in his garage. It didn’t exactly have the most commanding voice - it muttered most of its words. But still, there was something in them that made you want to hang on, give him - _it_ \- your complete attention.

“The war god had a circle of lesser demons dedicated to it. It trusted no one outside of that group. And it was the members of that group who made a split-second decision when they realized the consequences of their leader vanishing.”

The demon lifted its hand from the dog’s neck, flexed the inhuman fingers.

“I’m made for peace, not war. But they chose me. Because I’m versatile. I can disguise my own power, mimic that of others.”

Ocelot scratched his neck, slowly beginning to make sense of the situation.

“Wouldn’t your appearance set off some alarm bells?”

Venom shook its head. “Nobody needed to see me. Just feel me, know that I’m there. Now, it’s only humans that get to see what I look like. And they don’t know how far off it really is.”

“I mean, I was pretty suspicious.”

The demon cracked a smile.

“But you kept me anyway.”

Ocelot chuckled. “Guilty as charged.”

There was a long pause, where the only sound was the _scritch_ of fingers against fur.

“So, you’re not...”

“I’m not the god of war. I’m sorry. But I can fill its role. I can perform its duties until it returns.”

“You think it’ll come back?”

Venom shook its head. “No. I don’t. But I have to believe it will, because otherwise I’m stuck being something I’m not for eternity.”

The dog shifted forward suddenly, nuzzled its nose against Venom’s neck. The demon grinned, rubbed the fluff around its neck.

“They want me to be it. To forget myself, forget my name. But I can’t.”

As Venom continued to cuddle the life of out of the dog, Ocelot was having a moral crisis. Venom didn’t want to have anything to do with war. But without the demon here, Ocelot’s army would fall apart. He fought with himself for a few minutes. 

Venom didn’t notice. It was too busy getting licked in the face.

“Do you want me to send you back?” He asked eventually.

Venom pushed wet dog snout away from his nose, frowning thoughtfully.

“I like it here more than I like being locked away in my own world.”

“You don’t mind...”

“But it would be nice if I could continue what I’ve been doing. I can tell you don’t like my approach, but the fewer deaths I cause, the easier I can sleep at night.”

Ocelot laughed. “Is that it? That’s fine, do whatever the hell you want. As long as it works and fills my ranks, I don’t care.”

Venom sat up, dislodging a now-grumpy dog from his chest. He gave Ocelot a warm smile that looked adorably out of place on his gruff face.

“Thank you.”

Ocelot stood, waving the gratitude away. “It’s nothing. Oh, what is your real name, by the way? If you gave me the other demon’s.”

Venom recited a string of syllables that went on for almost a minute.

“Thanks. I’m going to keep calling you Venom.”


	5. It's a surprise, but I won't turn you down...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updating almost a month later, my apologies. ( 〃．．) Have a Kaz to make it up to you!

No longer under pressure to keep up a false pretense, Venom changed. In subtle ways, tiny facets of the demon’s true personality showing through the cracks one by one. He was lighter, somehow, weight seeming to have left his shoulders. He talked more, and when he did, he spoke louder. He laughed more. He didn’t try to hide the friendliness that apparently defined him.

He smiled more. He had a beautiful smile.

By the time Ocelot found him in the middle of a volleyball game with a group of recruits, Ocelot was confident that this was the real Venom.

By now, it wasn’t at all uncommon to find the demon deep in conversation with someone on base. But when Ocelot found him leaning against a building and chatting with an unpleasantly familiar face, his mood soured instantly. 

“Ah, there you are! I was wondering how long it would take you to get over here and yell at me to get off your lawn.”

“What are you doing here, Miller?”

Kazuhira Miller was an ex-business partner and a professional thorn in Ocelot’s side. They had split over ‘personal differences,’ which was code for ‘arguing over just about everything.’ It had ended up with what amounted to a childish declaration of “Fine, I’ll make my own army then!” from Ocelot.

Miller smirked at him, adjusting his stupid, ever-present sunglasses. “I heard you finally managed to get some semblance of a working system here. That’s a miracle in itself, so I had to come check in on my old friend and see how he’d accomplished it.” He nodded towards Venom. “And I think I’ve found the answer.”

It pleased Ocelot to hear a hint of jealousy in Miller’s voice. Miller possessed what Ocelot fondly referred to as ‘weak as shit’ spiritual abilities. He was able to sense the presence of the supernatural, but he was unable to control it in any way. So Miller had to settle for running his army the old-fashioned way.

Which, Ocelot had to admit, was probably easier when you weren’t quite as much of an asshole as Ocelot.

Ocelot crossed his arms. “Is he bothering you, boss?”

Venom shook his head, a small smile on his face. “Not at all. Actually, he was inviting me to visit his base.”

“Excuse me?”

“Just for a day,” Miller explained, with that stupid, insufferable grin of his. “After all, it’s nice to get some fresh air and see some new faces every now and then. Besides, your army is doing so well – you can manage to give the poor man a day off, can't you?”

Venom began to protest that he wasn’t overworked at all, but both Ocelot and Miller shushed him at the same time.

“Miller, I swear, if you try to steal him from me…”

“Steal? Who’s talking about stealing?” Miller had the nerve to look offended. “I just want to give a nice guy a vacation, is that so much to ask?” 

Ocelot sighed. “Venom? Do you agree to this?”

Venom nodded eagerly. “He said he’s stationed near a beach. I’ve always wanted to see one of those.”

“Fine,” Ocelot grumbled, jabbing a finger into Miller’s chest. “Have him back by six, you hear?”

Miller tipped his sunglasses. “I promise I’ll be a perfect gentleman.”

-

Ocelot had to give Miller credit: He did stick to his word. Venom was back on base at six sharp, and Ocelot intercepted him on his way to the mess hall.

“Why don’t we eat in my office?” Ocelot suggested. “You can tell me all about how Miller’s been doing since I parted ways with him.” 

Which was code for ‘give me as much dirt on him as you can.’

Venom agreed gladly, and minutes later they were relaxing around Ocelot’s desk, food on top of it and a large, fluffy dog below.

The demon answered Ocelot’s questions about his rival’s base as best he could, but apparently, Miller had been more focused on getting friendly with Venom than actually giving the demon a proper tour of his base. Venom’s face lit up when Ocelot asked about the beach.

“The sand was so warm and soft, and the sun looked amazing going down over the water. Are there any other beaches around here? Can we go to one sometime? Even if it’s just for a mission?”

Ocelot laughed. “Sure, I’ll try to get you to one soon.”

“Thank you.”

Ocelot waved a hand. “Not a problem. So, how was Miller himself? Didn’t give you too much trouble, I hope?”

Venom laughed, low and quiet. “He’s quite friendly. I can tell he wants to mate with me.”

Ocelot choked on the water he’d been taking a sip of, coughing hard. Venom stared at him in alarm, but Ocelot held up a finger.

“I’ll be fine,” he wheezed between coughs. “Just give me a second.”

Venom still watched him with concern, and even the dog got up and put its head in Ocelot’s lap, checking to see if he was okay. Eventually, his throat cleared up, and he patted the animal’s head.

“I’m fine, boy.” 

Apparently satisfied, the dog plopped back under the desk and went right back to sleeping.

“Are you, uh, interested in…” Ocelot coughed again, “…mating with him?”

Venom considered the question carefully, staring down at his food. “He looks good enough. And it’s been a long time since I’ve done it. But I would prefer to save that kind of thing for people I already know well.”

“Like me?” Ocelot blurted out without thinking, instantly regretting the words as soon as they were out of his mouth. “Wait, don’t answer that, I don’t know why I – ”

Venom smiled. “Yes, like you. If you’re interested.”

Ocelot froze, not believing his ears. “Seriously?”

“Only if you’re interested,” Venom repeated, shrugging. “Demons don’t usually get physically involved with humans. For one thing, our stays in this realm are usually temporary. For another, it’s considered taboo, since it can result in a hybrid child, which no one wants to figure out how to handle. But, it looks like I’m going to be here a while, and you aren’t a woman, so…”

“I’m interested,” Ocelot rushed to say.

Venom beamed. “Great!” With that, he stood and walked around the desk, and unceremoniously began removing his clothing.

“Whoa, whoa!” Ocelot reached out and grabbed his mechanical arm. “At least let me take you on a date or something first.”

Venom blinked. “A…date?”

“It’s a ritual that humans like to engage in before they mate with someone,” Ocelot explained, trying his best to keep a straight face.

“Oh. Right, then, let’s do that.”


	6. You know what they say: Be careful what you summon...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for sticking with this little story, everyone! I'm terribly sorry for how long it took to get from start to finish.

As it turned out, explaining what you’re supposed to do on a date to an inhuman creature who hadn’t grown up exposed to human society and romance-saturated pop culture was a bit difficult. Ultimately, Ocelot just gave up and suggested Venom do whatever made him happy.

Which is how Ocelot ended up watching the demon he had summoned for the purpose of being a heartless harbinger of death and chaos make sand castles.

The sand wasn’t quite the right texture, but Venom managed to make it stick together reasonably well, kneeling near the waves and staring intently at his work. When he was done, he called Ocelot over, excitement clear in his voice. He pointed at the vaguely building-shaped mounds of wet sand.

“Look! It’s our base.”

It wouldn’t be winning any trophies for accuracy, but Ocelot smiled all the same. Venom was obviously proud of it. 

“It looks great, boss.”

Venom grinned, before shaking a frightening amount of sand out of the joints of his mechanical hand. Ocelot sat down beside him, staring at the sun dipping its toe into the watery horizon.

“Are you happy here?”

Venom nodded. “Yes, very happy. I love beaches.”

Ocelot chuckled. “Not the beach. Here. This world. Working with me.”

“My answer is the same. I’m happier here than I have been since my identity was remade. I like you. You like me. I like the soldiers. The soldiers like me. They’re not just afraid of me. They _like_ me.”

“Except Tiger.”

“Tiger can go fuck himself.”

Ocelot’s jaw dropped. He stared at his boss with incredulous eyes. After a moment, Venom realized what he’d just said, and put an embarrassed hand to his mouth.

“I’m sorry. I’ve been spending a lot of time with the recruits, and – ”

Ocelot couldn’t hear the rest of Venom’s explanation over his own laughter.

Venom was adorable when he blushed.

-

Perhaps drinking together in Ocelot’s office wasn’t the most romantic way to end the evening, but it hadn’t been the most romantic evening in the first place. Besides, Ocelot wanted to see how a demon handled his alcohol.

The answer was ‘a hell of a lot better than Ocelot.’ This became clear when Ocelot was busy being dragged back to his room by an amused Venom, due to the fact that walking was out of Ocelot’s reach at the moment.

“You know,” Ocelot said, far louder than necessary, “You’re really…really fucking pretty…”

Venom laughed. “That’s the first time anyone’s told me that.”

“Really? ‘Cause I was thinking…with how you’re…” Ocelot waved a limp hand. Words were even harder than walking at the moment. “How you’re all…nice and shit…you sure you’re not – ”

He was about to make an absolutely terrible romantic platitude implying Venom was an angel, but his body decided to save him the embarrassment and take that moment to make him vomit on the floor.

Venom patted his back. “Let’s worry about talking tomorrow. You need to sleep.”

“That is…a good idea. A damn good idea. That’s a million-dollar idea, right there…that’s why you’re the boss, boss…heh, Boss Boss…”

“I can’t believe you summoned me.”

-

“Ocelot!”

Ocelot did a double-take at the sound of Venom’s voice echoing across the base. There was something special about hearing his name in the demon’s voice. Even when it wasn't spoken between kisses.

“Look what I found!”

Ocelot turned to see what Venom was shouting about, and his eyes went wide.

“Is that a sheep?!”

“Yes! I’m thinking we should name it Dolly!”

Ocelot shook his head, smiling. _I can’t believe I summoned that._


End file.
